Structures change.....and structure changes. Todd Slack and Chris Kennard of Keyway Construction can now be found in the midst of the ongoing process to revive and restore the heart and soul of Springfield's downtown. While they will be missed and missing from the 8747 house, downtown can surely use their help. Jason Mitchell and Michael Mardis of theworkshop308 will complete the project.....and have been its heart and soul from the very beginning two years ago, when I walked into their place with my plastic shoebox full of house plans.
Lots of fond memories of Keyway Construction......that very first day when I pulled up to what had been a gnarled and thorny house site to see Garrett on his bulldozer and Nathan directing traffic, as they forged out the driveway....Nathan owning up to his one-time ballet experience, as we all stood around the septic hole making polite conversation.....beautiful and sweet Lacey, handling the paperwork AND the boys AND me....Chris responding to my leach field whining with "IF YOU DON'T WANT A LEACH FIELD, THEN DON'T LIVE IN THE COUNTRY" comment.....and his willingness to undertake this shipping container project on the day we determined we needed to "rethink" the first plan....and Todd with his daredevil, yet precise orchestration of the setting and anchoring of the containers, and the accompanying media attention.....his continuing counsel and conferencing...and, especially, his tolerance of my multi-polar approach during this whole process. Keep your eye on downtown Springfield for their work.
So....that's the internal structure change of the moment. Externally, Michael and Jason are very much on the job with their plasma cutter..... cutting and knocking out the last container wall of the living room porch...... working on the windows to be sure they are getting the proper framing and flashing treatments......preparing to install the skylights and doors. They would like to get the house closed up by the end of the week, so the insulation can be sprayed the following week.
The porch off the living room is going to be awesome. It is now open on two sides (the back side, flooor and ceiling will be wrapped in cedar), and will be screened with a small open deck extending off the side. Tom Netzer, the structural engineer, will be meeting with the designers today to put his final stamp of approval on that.
It feels like we're getting to the point where things are going to be happening on a more regular basis....maybe even daily. Structure changes....people do what they need to do....and structures change....people do what needs to be done. At the end of the day, it's all good.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Roof raised....trailer trash gone....more dirt.....
"Roof raised"....."trailer trash gone"......"more dirt".......sounds like Fox News at Nine, eh?It was pretty exciting to drive out to the site Friday afternoon and see the roof on the house. It looks great. Perfect color, great material, good lines and the balance couldn't be better. The roof looks like it belongs to the structure. I hadn't been able to visualize what it was going to look like.....even with the decking in place.....but I couldn't be happier with the results.
And more dirt makes it look even more established.
As for the the trailer trash (metal scraps, plastic sheeting, wire, wood chunks, packing material, empty cartons, Dairy Queen cups, cans, stuff like that.....all piled on a trailer)......it's gone. A lot of potential "outsider art" material there for the taking......but gone.
I'm thinking that the roof is the beginning of the end. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Missouri Monsoon Ends...."Enthusiastic Old Lady" Seeks Therapy.....
On tonight's weather report, the guy said that we were having the first five days without rain since March 3rd through the 8th. That's a lot of rain. That's a whole lot of days without much (if ANY) work being done on the house. But, now we are on a two-working days-roll and maybe there will be something to write about other than magazines, blogger battles, human characteristics of immovable objects and how to find the recipe for Munchies Buttermilk Cake with Warm Caramel Icing. (I'd pay big bucks for that one.) (I even tried, unsuccessfully, to bribe a CHILD into getting that recipe from his mother who MIGHT have it.)
Back to the shipping containers. Other than Todd moving a lot of dirt around the house so that it looks a whole lot more decent, it has pretty much been sitting there "as is". There is glass in all of the windows, but no front door and both porches are still not completely cut out in readiness for the screened walls. In other words, I can sit in the living room in my lawn chair, eating my lunch, and look out through the glass window and watch the river, then turn my head toward the porch and have to shoo the wren out of that open space so it won't be nesting while I am........then I can wander into my bedroom, while eating an apple, look through those windows, walk over to that porch with its open space and throw the apple core off the edge and down the hill. (It's organic, so it's okay.)
The more days I spend doing that, and there have been quite a few, the harder those habits may be to break when the house is finished.....and, talk about the potential for a messy house.......birds, bird droppings, apple cores, peanut shells, lawn chairs. Rural/trash chic. But, for now, there isn't a better place to eat lunch in the world, as far as I'm concerned. Easy in. Easy out.
The plan for these non-rainy days is to get the (TPO) roof on and then insulate and start with the sheet-rock. I think the small container that will be the shelter/storage area and support for the canopy/carport will be put in place as well. Then it will have to be painted.
Meanwhile, I'll be working on the path that goes down to the river and attempt to get it clear enough to drag my kayak down to the gravel bar and back up to the house. That's where the "Therapy" comes in. There is a lot to be said for lopping and weed-eating and its beneficial effect on the mental health of "enthusiastic old ladies". One can definitely see where one has been...where one has made improvements.....and where one needs to go. A therapeutic life lesson, for sure. And when this is executed on a forty-five degree slope that is chock full of very old brush, brambles, junk trees, bugs, ticks, snakes and poison ivy, you can bet that the therapy intensifies. Have you noticed? I think I seem to be a little more subdued and rational the last couple of days. My shins are itching like crazy and I have a huge crop of rock-flying bruises, but serenity doesn't come without a price.
Stay tuned for a progress report after these dry working days. I expect things to really "take off" now. With the shipping container house, that is......not the shins and bruises.
Back to the shipping containers. Other than Todd moving a lot of dirt around the house so that it looks a whole lot more decent, it has pretty much been sitting there "as is". There is glass in all of the windows, but no front door and both porches are still not completely cut out in readiness for the screened walls. In other words, I can sit in the living room in my lawn chair, eating my lunch, and look out through the glass window and watch the river, then turn my head toward the porch and have to shoo the wren out of that open space so it won't be nesting while I am........then I can wander into my bedroom, while eating an apple, look through those windows, walk over to that porch with its open space and throw the apple core off the edge and down the hill. (It's organic, so it's okay.)
The more days I spend doing that, and there have been quite a few, the harder those habits may be to break when the house is finished.....and, talk about the potential for a messy house.......birds, bird droppings, apple cores, peanut shells, lawn chairs. Rural/trash chic. But, for now, there isn't a better place to eat lunch in the world, as far as I'm concerned. Easy in. Easy out.
The plan for these non-rainy days is to get the (TPO) roof on and then insulate and start with the sheet-rock. I think the small container that will be the shelter/storage area and support for the canopy/carport will be put in place as well. Then it will have to be painted.
Meanwhile, I'll be working on the path that goes down to the river and attempt to get it clear enough to drag my kayak down to the gravel bar and back up to the house. That's where the "Therapy" comes in. There is a lot to be said for lopping and weed-eating and its beneficial effect on the mental health of "enthusiastic old ladies". One can definitely see where one has been...where one has made improvements.....and where one needs to go. A therapeutic life lesson, for sure. And when this is executed on a forty-five degree slope that is chock full of very old brush, brambles, junk trees, bugs, ticks, snakes and poison ivy, you can bet that the therapy intensifies. Have you noticed? I think I seem to be a little more subdued and rational the last couple of days. My shins are itching like crazy and I have a huge crop of rock-flying bruises, but serenity doesn't come without a price.
Stay tuned for a progress report after these dry working days. I expect things to really "take off" now. With the shipping container house, that is......not the shins and bruises.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Notes from an enthusiastic old lady caught up in the emotion of my build......a blog about a blog about a blog.
"Overzealous"? "Countess of Containers"? "Overcompensating"? "Attention Whore"?
Hmmmmmm. If my mother were alive today, she would say "Well, that's what you get...."
I'm referring to a blog that was forwarded to me in an email the other day. I started to copy the whole thing right here....right now..... but the original is way more colorful and italicized than I am smart enough to re-create and can be found at
http://renaissanceronin.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/1959/
See what you think. And I'll have a few words to say after you have read it.
*************************************************************************************
So..........after reading what renaissanceronin has to say.....let me just say, to begin with, that it also turns MY stomach a bit to read that "Yessirree! Sign up NOW.....Jump up and down......." excerpt from one of my previous blogs.....and a few others, I'm sorry to say. What was I thinking? Was I THAT caught up in the moment? And he is absolutely right about my being "overcompensating" and "overzealous" and using circus antics. That's pretty much how I've gone through life....much to the annoyance of a whole lot of folks. Just ask 'em. But I do think I've improved in the "look at me....I'm so cool.....center of the world" department, in my golden years. More often than not, in spite of what has gone on lately, I will go out of my way.....WAY out of my way....in pursuit of anonymity. These days, it's more like "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it fall....."
Until the blllllllllloooogggggg, that is.
To be honest, I am extremely flattered, surprised and grateful that people have read about this project and think that any reaction, bad or good, serves the very purpose that initiated my "spreading the word". And I won't deny that I have gotten a lot of mileage from all of the feedback. Thanks for all of it. You, too, renaissanceronin.
Now, let's talk about DWELL magazine. I DO NOT EVER REMEMBER "COMPLAINING" ABOUT DWELL MAGAZINE, as I was accused. As a matter of fact, it is possible that I would not have a shipping container house-to-be if it weren't for DWELL magazine.
It all started with a house-sitting job for friends Betty and Carter in Sacramento, California. In that one memorable week, I had a blind date with a chiropractor, bought the premier issue of ReadyMade magazine, floated down the American River, found Ozomatli, and discovered and bought my first issue of DWELL (Volume 3, October 2003). That trip and those discoveries (with the exception of the chiropractor) may have been the catalyst I needed to realize that I really could build a house on my land....and the beginning of my search, in earnest, for the perfect modern, simple, efficient and affordable house plan. I don't think I have missed, or thrown away a single issue since then, and consider my basement collection of DWELL the best resource imaginable for most anything that has to do with how I plan to live. That plastic shoebox I carried into theworkshop 308 a couple of years ago (see blog archives) was full of DWELL clippings and websites and essays and details.....along with slim pickings from the Internet and library books. And what did I see when I walked through their door? (Besides Jason, Michael, Natalie, the big dog Mater and a space filled with some of the most incredible handmade modern design furniture ever seen in Springfield....) I saw some of those same DWELL magazines on their shelves and tables......which I interpreted as yet another sign that I was in the right place at the right time.
Talk about "spreading the word". DWELL has been the best ambassador for a conscientious, well-designed way of life that a person could ever ask for. And I'm talking any segment of the home owning population...not just the rich and famous. No, I would NEVER complain about DWELL. If, in any past blogs, I have mentioned the barefooted, serene and uncluttered inhabitants of those pages, believe me, it is with love and admiration in my heart. How's that for overzealous, eh? ".....with love and admiration in my heart." A magazine? Yes.
Renaissanceronin had a lot of good stuff to say. And good for him for saying it. It certainly separates him from a huge segment of the more silent population. As for my part, I plan to continue in my overcompensating, attention whoring ways and will love every single minute of this whole house building operation. "Well, that's what I get."
Hmmmmmm. If my mother were alive today, she would say "Well, that's what you get...."
I'm referring to a blog that was forwarded to me in an email the other day. I started to copy the whole thing right here....right now..... but the original is way more colorful and italicized than I am smart enough to re-create and can be found at
http://renaissanceronin.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/1959/
See what you think. And I'll have a few words to say after you have read it.
*************************************************************************************
So..........after reading what renaissanceronin has to say.....let me just say, to begin with, that it also turns MY stomach a bit to read that "Yessirree! Sign up NOW.....Jump up and down......." excerpt from one of my previous blogs.....and a few others, I'm sorry to say. What was I thinking? Was I THAT caught up in the moment? And he is absolutely right about my being "overcompensating" and "overzealous" and using circus antics. That's pretty much how I've gone through life....much to the annoyance of a whole lot of folks. Just ask 'em. But I do think I've improved in the "look at me....I'm so cool.....center of the world" department, in my golden years. More often than not, in spite of what has gone on lately, I will go out of my way.....WAY out of my way....in pursuit of anonymity. These days, it's more like "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it fall....."
Until the blllllllllloooogggggg, that is.
To be honest, I am extremely flattered, surprised and grateful that people have read about this project and think that any reaction, bad or good, serves the very purpose that initiated my "spreading the word". And I won't deny that I have gotten a lot of mileage from all of the feedback. Thanks for all of it. You, too, renaissanceronin.
Now, let's talk about DWELL magazine. I DO NOT EVER REMEMBER "COMPLAINING" ABOUT DWELL MAGAZINE, as I was accused. As a matter of fact, it is possible that I would not have a shipping container house-to-be if it weren't for DWELL magazine.
It all started with a house-sitting job for friends Betty and Carter in Sacramento, California. In that one memorable week, I had a blind date with a chiropractor, bought the premier issue of ReadyMade magazine, floated down the American River, found Ozomatli, and discovered and bought my first issue of DWELL (Volume 3, October 2003). That trip and those discoveries (with the exception of the chiropractor) may have been the catalyst I needed to realize that I really could build a house on my land....and the beginning of my search, in earnest, for the perfect modern, simple, efficient and affordable house plan. I don't think I have missed, or thrown away a single issue since then, and consider my basement collection of DWELL the best resource imaginable for most anything that has to do with how I plan to live. That plastic shoebox I carried into theworkshop 308 a couple of years ago (see blog archives) was full of DWELL clippings and websites and essays and details.....along with slim pickings from the Internet and library books. And what did I see when I walked through their door? (Besides Jason, Michael, Natalie, the big dog Mater and a space filled with some of the most incredible handmade modern design furniture ever seen in Springfield....) I saw some of those same DWELL magazines on their shelves and tables......which I interpreted as yet another sign that I was in the right place at the right time.
Talk about "spreading the word". DWELL has been the best ambassador for a conscientious, well-designed way of life that a person could ever ask for. And I'm talking any segment of the home owning population...not just the rich and famous. No, I would NEVER complain about DWELL. If, in any past blogs, I have mentioned the barefooted, serene and uncluttered inhabitants of those pages, believe me, it is with love and admiration in my heart. How's that for overzealous, eh? ".....with love and admiration in my heart." A magazine? Yes.
Renaissanceronin had a lot of good stuff to say. And good for him for saying it. It certainly separates him from a huge segment of the more silent population. As for my part, I plan to continue in my overcompensating, attention whoring ways and will love every single minute of this whole house building operation. "Well, that's what I get."
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Meanwhile, back to the house........
Meanwhile, back to the house.......(I think I've become one of those lame people who come out on the stage during an all-school talent show to make small talk to the audience while the baton twirlers are getting in formation behind the curtain.....blah blah blah and everyone is thinking "let's get on with it so I can get home and watch the 10:00 news....."). This bllllogg is SUPPOSED to be about the HOUSE.
So, I'm excited to report that ALL of the windows are now installed....and that looks and feels really, really good. The electricity is all but hooked up in the house, I think.....but I'm not touching anything until I know for sure. The septic system is installed, complete with an alarm light that flashes when there is a problem.....and also complete with some words of wisdom from Chris when I started to whine about the leech (?) field. I saw a rendering that Jason made that shows how the ramp is going to tie in to the front porch and will lead to the carport/storage container. Very cool. And very practical. No stairs, just a ramp. Michael has been planing (not planning, but planing) the cedar boards that are going to "wrap" the porches and continue onto the ceiling in the kitchen and living area....and they look and smell really good. And I had a small session with Michael yesterday to talk about cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom and the three (count 'em) closets. Talk about winnowing. I am going to have to get rid of some real treasures before I move into this house. Minimalism is going to be my middle name. And I'm going to try to apply that practice not only to the closets and drawers, but to my daily life as well. Watch out. I will end up being very serene and knowing. My friend Sally led a Lunch Bunch tour to see the house yesterday in the rain, and told me that they left "a little something" for me in the living room. I bet it's either a Garden Gnome or a red shag rug. There goes serene.
And now, let's have a nice round of applause for the best little twirlers this side of Panther Creek.......(and I'll try to confine this space to my shipping container house). When possible.
So, I'm excited to report that ALL of the windows are now installed....and that looks and feels really, really good. The electricity is all but hooked up in the house, I think.....but I'm not touching anything until I know for sure. The septic system is installed, complete with an alarm light that flashes when there is a problem.....and also complete with some words of wisdom from Chris when I started to whine about the leech (?) field. I saw a rendering that Jason made that shows how the ramp is going to tie in to the front porch and will lead to the carport/storage container. Very cool. And very practical. No stairs, just a ramp. Michael has been planing (not planning, but planing) the cedar boards that are going to "wrap" the porches and continue onto the ceiling in the kitchen and living area....and they look and smell really good. And I had a small session with Michael yesterday to talk about cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom and the three (count 'em) closets. Talk about winnowing. I am going to have to get rid of some real treasures before I move into this house. Minimalism is going to be my middle name. And I'm going to try to apply that practice not only to the closets and drawers, but to my daily life as well. Watch out. I will end up being very serene and knowing. My friend Sally led a Lunch Bunch tour to see the house yesterday in the rain, and told me that they left "a little something" for me in the living room. I bet it's either a Garden Gnome or a red shag rug. There goes serene.
And now, let's have a nice round of applause for the best little twirlers this side of Panther Creek.......(and I'll try to confine this space to my shipping container house). When possible.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
It all started with red shag rug and tomato garden comments.......
It all started with red shag rug and tomato garden comments. I'm referring to the suggestions, thoughts, and notably, to some of the interesting ideas that people so graciously and enthusiastically have offered after reading about the house, or while visiting it.
"What you need on these concrete floors are some red shag rugs to add a little color." "You ought to put your carport/storage container right there so you'll have room for a nice little tomato garden." "How are you gonna get your kayak down that hill to put it in the river?" "If I were you, I'd use that crawl space down there for a storm shelter....but it's too late to put a trap door in your floor." "You'll have to get a dog." "You'd better get yourself an Audubon Society Bird Book....not just a bird book." "I'd cut that tree right there, for sure....and wire that other one so it leans the other way." "You could take some of those scrap container slabs, fill 'em up with concrete, scatter 'em down the slope like pods, and have a nice place for lawn chairs and such." "You're not tall enough to see out of that window." "If I were you, I'd just put some more containers on top of these and make yourself a whole lot more room." "Why not sink one of those containers in the ground and make it into a lap pool?" "You'll have to get a dog." "All you really need here is a zip line....that'll take you right down to the river." "You're probably going to see some critters out of those windows." "Why not make your deck a triangle instead of just a rectangle?" "If you welded a ladder to the side of that little container, you could sit up there and get a suntan or watch the stars." "Do you have a church home?" "You need a windmill out here." "You could make a miniature replica of a crane hooked onto a shipping container dangling in the air, like the one we saw in Mexico, and use that for your mailbox." "You're gonna want another door in this place." "With the river on one side, it seems like you would want a water feature of some kind....maybe a fountain.....on the other side." "You'll have to get a dog."
Could it be possible.......now, here's a question for you......that it's not a matter of folks simply offering their ideas and suggestions as they visit and experience this project.........but could it be the shipping container house, ITSELF, which evokes some latent, inventive, imaginative impulse in ALL WHO WALK THROUGH THOSE DOORS (of which there are none yet) to envision....to concoct....to manufacture....or to merely ruminate? A sort of Stephen King phenomenon? Or some mutant cerebral/vocal fallout from those reported UFO lights seen at the Northview Exit on I-44 a few years ago? You're standing there, surrounded by the brute force of corrugated metal.....a faint essence of salt water lingering at the seams....and you just can't help yourself. Lap pool...ladders....mailboxes...concrete...crawl spaces...water features. And when you think about it, it really does make sense.......not worthy of a Christine novel...no, no, no, no, no... nor an urban legend like the Joplin spook lights......but simply a collection of four shipping containers that have been who-knows-where, stowing who-knows-what, for who-knows-whom......a definite "Oh, if these walls could talk" attitude....and with both the innate and acquired characteristics that go with it. It's no wonder that the vibes are there. And......the vibes ARE there.
One innovative and imaginative project begets another....and another....and who knows where this will all end? A nice little tomato garden, perhaps. But NOT a red shag rug.
"What you need on these concrete floors are some red shag rugs to add a little color." "You ought to put your carport/storage container right there so you'll have room for a nice little tomato garden." "How are you gonna get your kayak down that hill to put it in the river?" "If I were you, I'd use that crawl space down there for a storm shelter....but it's too late to put a trap door in your floor." "You'll have to get a dog." "You'd better get yourself an Audubon Society Bird Book....not just a bird book." "I'd cut that tree right there, for sure....and wire that other one so it leans the other way." "You could take some of those scrap container slabs, fill 'em up with concrete, scatter 'em down the slope like pods, and have a nice place for lawn chairs and such." "You're not tall enough to see out of that window." "If I were you, I'd just put some more containers on top of these and make yourself a whole lot more room." "Why not sink one of those containers in the ground and make it into a lap pool?" "You'll have to get a dog." "All you really need here is a zip line....that'll take you right down to the river." "You're probably going to see some critters out of those windows." "Why not make your deck a triangle instead of just a rectangle?" "If you welded a ladder to the side of that little container, you could sit up there and get a suntan or watch the stars." "Do you have a church home?" "You need a windmill out here." "You could make a miniature replica of a crane hooked onto a shipping container dangling in the air, like the one we saw in Mexico, and use that for your mailbox." "You're gonna want another door in this place." "With the river on one side, it seems like you would want a water feature of some kind....maybe a fountain.....on the other side." "You'll have to get a dog."
Could it be possible.......now, here's a question for you......that it's not a matter of folks simply offering their ideas and suggestions as they visit and experience this project.........but could it be the shipping container house, ITSELF, which evokes some latent, inventive, imaginative impulse in ALL WHO WALK THROUGH THOSE DOORS (of which there are none yet) to envision....to concoct....to manufacture....or to merely ruminate? A sort of Stephen King phenomenon? Or some mutant cerebral/vocal fallout from those reported UFO lights seen at the Northview Exit on I-44 a few years ago? You're standing there, surrounded by the brute force of corrugated metal.....a faint essence of salt water lingering at the seams....and you just can't help yourself. Lap pool...ladders....mailboxes...concrete...crawl spaces...water features. And when you think about it, it really does make sense.......not worthy of a Christine novel...no, no, no, no, no... nor an urban legend like the Joplin spook lights......but simply a collection of four shipping containers that have been who-knows-where, stowing who-knows-what, for who-knows-whom......a definite "Oh, if these walls could talk" attitude....and with both the innate and acquired characteristics that go with it. It's no wonder that the vibes are there. And......the vibes ARE there.
One innovative and imaginative project begets another....and another....and who knows where this will all end? A nice little tomato garden, perhaps. But NOT a red shag rug.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Trouble in paradise.......
Trouble in paradise.....was the subject of the email I sent to Jason and Michael at 10:10 this morning. It's not enough for them to know about structure, planning, engineering, construction, drawing and all of that other stuff that architects and designers know....what kind of pens to use, coffee to drink, phones that work, socks that are warm. They have to be prepared to deal with the dysfunctional and psychotic mood swings of the deadbeat client.
Still high on the Black Fox paint fumes and a little glass in some windows from last week, I decided to set off for Chicago on Sunday to search for the perfect couch for my perfect house. (We have Bass Pro, Macy's, Sears and Lazy Boy here in Springfield.) I got a $45 room on Priceline.com at the Residence Inn on the end of runway #17 at O'Hare, drove into town Sunday afternoon after an 8+ hour trip, and spent two and a half days sitting on every couch and every chair at Room and Board, CB2, West Elm and Ikea. It was definitely the kind of trip that could only be made alone. Fueled by Chinese food and whole sacks of kettle corn, I drove thousands of miles.....mostly within the Chicago city limits....and found three, count 'em, three possible couch choices and a few likely chairs. It was a great time. But no place for sissy drivers.
I took all of my Chicago literature, fabric swatches, possible couch measurements, tape measure, and blue masking tape out to the house yesterday, so I could get an idea of where the couch would go, when I got it, and how it would fit with a dining table that theworkshop 308 was going to make for me. That's when the trouble in paradise began.
Dear Jason and Michael:
I had a hard day at the house yesterday. I had my tape measure...BLUE masking tape to stick on the floor...measurements for the couch I found...and the plan to put a table (that you will build) on casters, behind the couch, about in the middle of the room. I just couldn't get it right. I just couldn't get it right. And I didn't like it. I worked on it for 2 hours there...changing the location of the couch, of the table, paring the couch down to a love seat, changing the table to a free-standing round one, making the table a drop-leaf with two chairs, having no couch at all but chairs instead. DAMMIT. The house looks best empty I think. Then, I found a plan that might work: put the couch against the back wall...eliminate my small counter/chair space at the end of the kitchen counter...put the table (and I know it will be the most fantastic table known to man) in front of the spectacular window. It may block some of the view, but it will (1)allow me (and anyone else) to sit at the table and look out, (2) put me at a more comfortable distance from the fireplace/TV, maybe even allow for a chair facing inward at the other window, and make a clear passage to either kitchen or hall. Boy, do I need your help. And, boy, am I ever glad that you weren't there yesterday to see me whining and carrying on. I was even ready to glass in the screened porch to put the table out there. So, what do you think? And don't just say, that's fine. Really think about it and tell me what you think. Think. I'm losing it, I think. I have to eat my stupid lunch now. Let me know. I had nightmares last night. A truant's mother was taking too many shoes from the Kiwanis Shoe Bank and I knew it, but didn't know what to do about it....and she was keeping her children OUT OF SCHOOL.....but amassing a pile of new shoes....to sell for drugs. Do you have the name of a good counselor? marti
Today.......I took a hot shower, ate lunch with my sister and two cousins, met Michael at the house, discussed the options available, (like a mature and reasonable 65-year-old woman who wants to live in a Black Fox Shipping Container house), measured and put BLUE tape where the couch would go against the wall, talked about the table.......and now, all is right in the world. All is right in the world.
People everywhere are starving, the economy is changing lives daily, there are problems around each and every corner.........and I'm worrying about couch placement? Saying DAMMIT in an email? Putting parentheses around numbers that detail my personal comfort level? Having nightmares about shoe thieving?
When I over-dosed on popcorn, a couple of weeks ago, I felt moved to write about Gabe sticking his tongue in a wall socket, for example, and how he turned that into the ability to be a successful engineer.....and a whole page of more random and disconnected thoughts. I later called that a bit of "bad blogging". I'm now thinking that it may have been the Chinese food and kettle corn that sent me into this latest episode of inappropriate behavior. Sorry. I'm over it now. It's not my fault.
Still high on the Black Fox paint fumes and a little glass in some windows from last week, I decided to set off for Chicago on Sunday to search for the perfect couch for my perfect house. (We have Bass Pro, Macy's, Sears and Lazy Boy here in Springfield.) I got a $45 room on Priceline.com at the Residence Inn on the end of runway #17 at O'Hare, drove into town Sunday afternoon after an 8+ hour trip, and spent two and a half days sitting on every couch and every chair at Room and Board, CB2, West Elm and Ikea. It was definitely the kind of trip that could only be made alone. Fueled by Chinese food and whole sacks of kettle corn, I drove thousands of miles.....mostly within the Chicago city limits....and found three, count 'em, three possible couch choices and a few likely chairs. It was a great time. But no place for sissy drivers.
I took all of my Chicago literature, fabric swatches, possible couch measurements, tape measure, and blue masking tape out to the house yesterday, so I could get an idea of where the couch would go, when I got it, and how it would fit with a dining table that theworkshop 308 was going to make for me. That's when the trouble in paradise began.
Dear Jason and Michael:
I had a hard day at the house yesterday. I had my tape measure...BLUE masking tape to stick on the floor...measurements for the couch I found...and the plan to put a table (that you will build) on casters, behind the couch, about in the middle of the room. I just couldn't get it right. I just couldn't get it right. And I didn't like it. I worked on it for 2 hours there...changing the location of the couch, of the table, paring the couch down to a love seat, changing the table to a free-standing round one, making the table a drop-leaf with two chairs, having no couch at all but chairs instead. DAMMIT. The house looks best empty I think. Then, I found a plan that might work: put the couch against the back wall...eliminate my small counter/chair space at the end of the kitchen counter...put the table (and I know it will be the most fantastic table known to man) in front of the spectacular window. It may block some of the view, but it will (1)allow me (and anyone else) to sit at the table and look out, (2) put me at a more comfortable distance from the fireplace/TV, maybe even allow for a chair facing inward at the other window, and make a clear passage to either kitchen or hall. Boy, do I need your help. And, boy, am I ever glad that you weren't there yesterday to see me whining and carrying on. I was even ready to glass in the screened porch to put the table out there. So, what do you think? And don't just say, that's fine. Really think about it and tell me what you think. Think. I'm losing it, I think. I have to eat my stupid lunch now. Let me know. I had nightmares last night. A truant's mother was taking too many shoes from the Kiwanis Shoe Bank and I knew it, but didn't know what to do about it....and she was keeping her children OUT OF SCHOOL.....but amassing a pile of new shoes....to sell for drugs. Do you have the name of a good counselor? marti
Today.......I took a hot shower, ate lunch with my sister and two cousins, met Michael at the house, discussed the options available, (like a mature and reasonable 65-year-old woman who wants to live in a Black Fox Shipping Container house), measured and put BLUE tape where the couch would go against the wall, talked about the table.......and now, all is right in the world. All is right in the world.
People everywhere are starving, the economy is changing lives daily, there are problems around each and every corner.........and I'm worrying about couch placement? Saying DAMMIT in an email? Putting parentheses around numbers that detail my personal comfort level? Having nightmares about shoe thieving?
When I over-dosed on popcorn, a couple of weeks ago, I felt moved to write about Gabe sticking his tongue in a wall socket, for example, and how he turned that into the ability to be a successful engineer.....and a whole page of more random and disconnected thoughts. I later called that a bit of "bad blogging". I'm now thinking that it may have been the Chinese food and kettle corn that sent me into this latest episode of inappropriate behavior. Sorry. I'm over it now. It's not my fault.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
